Matty Blast

Question: If Reverse Flash can't kill Barry in an unaltered time line because he will mess up his own past, then why is he trying to kill him in the beginning of the movie before the Flashpoint change? He traps Flash in the Flash museum and places explosives on him with intent to kill.

Quantom X

Chosen answer: Reverse Flash knows he'll be wiped out of existence, but he doesn't care. He's so obsessed with killing Flash in a satisfying way that he's willing to sacrifice his own life to do it. That's why he stays completely calm when the Flash moves the charge to his shoulder and tells him he'll die too. This is further evidenced by the fact that he didn't care that Aquaman's WMD would kill him along with everyone else.

Matty Blast

Which still makes no sense... because then why doesn't he just go back in time and kill him?

Question: Just before they find Superman, Flash, Batman and Cyborg are walking through a room that has several containers holding various dead aliens. Are any of these supposed to represent any other characters or beings in the DC universe or elsewhere?

Quantom X

Chosen answer: The government was combining Superman's DNA with various creatures to see what would result, which is why Cyborg tried to explain to the government fighters that he was just being used as a lab rat. That being said, however, there is one being in preservation that looks like a normal man; per the DVD commentary, that creature is Flashpoint Bizarro.

Matty Blast

18th Nov 2006

King of the Hill (1997)

Answer: Dale is singing the classic Three Stooges song "Swinging the Alphabet" (composed by Septimus Winner) from the short film "Violent is the Word for Curly" (1938). A google search on either the song title or film title will provide you with a wealth of information on this hilarious episode.

Matty Blast

17th May 2006

The Muppet Movie (1979)

Question: When Fozzie is singing the National Anthem, why does he sing 'America the Beautiful', and not 'The Star Spangled Banner' (which is the National Anthem of USA)?

Answer: Fozzie did not mean to sing the National Anthem. He simply wanted to sing something patriotic, since he was so moved by the scenery.

Matty Blast

Question: During the battle of Geonosis, how come the droidekas don't activate their shield generators, like they did in TPM and ROTS? Wouldn't it be better since they are noted to be feared by the Jedi?

Answer: Some of the droidekas have sheild generators and some don't. Recall that when Obi-wan and Qui-gon first encountered them in Ep. 1, Obi-wan said "Master! Destroyers!" A few seconds later he pointed out that they had shield generators, to emphasize that that was the type of droidekas they were.

Matty Blast

24th Jan 2006

Rain Man (1988)

Question: When Ray and Charlie are in the bathroom, they sing part of a song. What is the song they sing?

Answer: It's "I Saw Her Standing There," written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, released November 1963. In addition to the Beatles, the song has been covered by Elton John, The Grateful Dead, Tiffany, and many others I'm sure.

Matty Blast

In December 1963, Capitol Records released the song in the United States as the B-side on the label's first single by the Beatles, "I Want to Hold Your Hand."

Question: Is the young green alien who is cheering on Anakin at the pod races the same one who confronts Han Solo in Episode 4?

Answer: Technically it wasn't, but during principal photography of the movie, it indeed was meant to be the same creature (Greedo). In one of the deleted scenes, the green alien picks a fight with Anakin, accusing him of cheating to win the pod race. Qui-gon warns young Greedo that he'll get into trouble if he keeps picking fights, and sure enough, he is blasted to pieces by Han Solo in Episode IV (again, that was the original plan). However, since the scene never made it into the movie, we are just left to assume it's an alien of the same race.

Matty Blast

Answer: No his name is Wald, and he is of the same race. The deleted scene shows them together, but the Wald says be careful or one day you'll get yours.

Kevin l Habershaw

29th Aug 2005

Airplane (1980)

Question: Captain Oveur was saying things to Joey. What I didn't understand is the jokes behind the lines "Have you ever been in a Turkish Prison" and "Do you like movies about gladiators." What are the jokes behind these? Please explain. Thank-you.

Hamster

Chosen answer: All of his questions to Joey are filled with homosexual innuendos; the perverted captain is trying to see if Joey has any such tendencies. In a Turkish prison, men who are sexually frustrated will resort to "companionship" with other men (even forcefully). Movies about gladiators depict ripped, muscular men, and the question about seeing a "grown man naked" obviously fits the pattern.

Matty Blast

The gladiator reference is about Spartacus. There is a scene in there about homosexuality.

What scene are you talking about? If you mean the "snails and oysters" scene, that was not part of the movie until it was restored in 1991.

Answer: I believe this joke is just to make the watcher extremely uncomfortable and it works great.

3rd Aug 2005

Minority Report (2002)

Question: Perhaps I'm a little dense, but why does John still kill Crow after realising he didn't actually kill his son. Was it because Crow wouldn't tell him the name of the person setting him up? Because I'm sure a little more interrogation would sort that out.

Answer: Anderton didn't kill Crow. His remarkable self-control made him want to arrest him instead (as you know). Crow then grabbed Anderton's hand as it was holding the gun and either forced Anderton's finger to pull the trigger or wedged his own finger inside his hand to pull the trigger himself.

Matty Blast

Question: Why does Andy go to Norton (warden) about the information that Tommy provides him rather than see his lawyer? While he may not think Norton would go to the lengths he did to keep him there, what advantage would seeing the warden before a lawyer do?

Lummie

Chosen answer: You're right--it's a character mistake, but an explainable one. Andy probably figured that because he was doing so much work for the Warden (accounting for dirty money, kickbacks, tax compliance, etc.), that the Warden would use his power to get Andy a new trial. Sounds like a fair trade--Andy makes sure there's no way for anyone to disover the illegality of the laundering, and the Warden gets Andy pardoned. What Andy didn't realize, however, was that the Warden didn't want to risk having Andy, after his pardon & release, reveal the details of the illegal schemes that were going on. So to make sure Andy got the message that he was going nowhere and would reveal nothing, he was give the two months in solitary confinement (as you know from the movie, of course).

Matty Blast

Answer: It was the 1940's to 1960's. Prisoners did not have the same rights and access to the legal system as they do today. Look what happened when a new prisoner cried...In those days all they had to say was "he got out of line and we had to beat him and he died." Prisons were not scrutinized - they were there to hold "bad" people and no one really cared what went on in them.

Question: In the "first timeline", Marty's father is a loser. He has never hit Biff. Marty goes to the past, and when he's going to 1985, he says that to Doc. He returns to the "new" 1985, where his father is successful, and he has hit Biff. He sees himself going to 1955, and that Marty is about to do everything that Marty did in the movie. But here's a question: that Marty lives in the "second timeline", where his father has hit Biff. Why then, in the past, he would say that his father has never hit Biff in his whole life?

Answer: I see two possible explanations. One is simply that the improved George McFly never told Marty the story about how he clocked Biff, perhaps to keep Marty from getting into fights himself. The other explanation is that the 1955 Marty went back to had not yet changed before he came back to the improved 1985. As the slowly-changing photograph illustrates, changes in timelines can be very gradual. Therefore, the only version of 1955 we are able see is the 1955 that the Marty of the original 1985 went back to.

Matty Blast

Answer: Another good example for a parallel timeline being created, which the writers/story denies. but while the "second Marty" has no reason to tell Doc that his father never stood up to Biff. His comment is of no significance to the outcome of events. The important change in the past was Marty being in George's spot and then having to fix things.

Question: One thing I'm unsure of in the transition between episodes III and IV involves R2D2 and Obi-Wan. In Episode IV. Obi-Wan says "Strange, I don't remember owning any droids" when he meets C3PO and R2D2. Now technically yes, he never OWNED the droids, and he has been in hiding for 19 years, but after all, he and R2 went through in the past, you'd think he'd be more pleased to see him. He barely even recognises him. Any theories anyone?

Answer: Actually it was Anakin whom R2 accompanied during the events of the new trilogy. Obi-wan spent most of his time with R4-P17, and that was (as you've said) because he was essentially part of his cruiser, not because he owned him. So upon seeing R2 that many years later, it's understandable that he would not strike him as a droid he ever "owned."

Matty Blast

26th May 2005

Miracle (2004)

Question: What exactly is the difference between the former US hockey style and the 'hybrid Soviet/Canadian' style that Brooks implements? What is different about how they actually play the game. All Brooks ever says in the film itself is some vague stuff about flow, creativity, and keeping options open. The special features expand on this a bit: circling within positions and being ready to come out of your position if an opportunity presents itself. Is this it, or was there more to it?

Answer: You've pretty much got it. The big difference is that with the traditional North American style of play (at that time), everyone had stayed in the section of the ice indicated by their position. For example, if you were a left winger, you stayed on the left side and moved straight up and down the length of the ice as play progressed, staying in your own little zone. The Soviets, however, were given the freedom to move around the whole playing area, constantly weaving, circling in and out of their positions, and anticipating where their teammates were going to be as they made their passes (as Kurt Russell explains during the film footage he was playing for the team). This freedom of movement meant that each player would have more passing options when in possession of the puck. This system therefore also required that the members of the team become very cohesive and know each other on a deep personal level on and off the ice so that each player, knowing the styles, habits and strengths of each teammate, could anticipate where each teammate would be and make the pass accordingly. At the meeting at the beginning of the movie, Russel explains that "team chemistry" is the most important prerequisite for learing this new "hybrid" style of play. And we see examples of it later in the movie when players are calling out their teammates' nicknames before passing the puck (e.g., "I'm with ya Buzzy!" or "Rizzo! Rizzo!").

Matty Blast

Chosen answer: Absolutely correct. Similarly, the Episode I dispute between Naboo and the Trade Federation was an excuse for Palpatine to become Supreme Chancellor. And in Episode II, the separatist movement was an excuse for him to be given emergency powers, so he and Dooku could get the Clone Wars started.

Matty Blast

3rd Feb 2005

Superman II (1980)

Question: At the end of the movie when Clark and Lois are talking to each other at the Daily Planet, Clark kisses Lois and she forgets that Clark is really Superman. How could that happen and why would Clark make Lois forget that he is Superman, since she promised not to tell anyone?

Answer: Superman was be able to kiss Lois in such a way that the heightened emotion wiped out her memory of his identity. To answer your second question, even though Lois promised not to tell anyone, Superman decided he does not want even her to know his secret identity.

Matty Blast

Answer: I don't agree that he didn't even want her to know because he struggled in the beginning of the first movie with telling her on the first date. He was about to tell her from the beginning who he was. I don't understand why he was breaking it off with her at the end of the second movie and erased her memory to help her get over him. This confusion continues when he develops a relationship with another woman in the third or fourth movie.

At the end of the movie, he realises her love for him is torturing her, so he decided to remove the memories to end her suffering. It works, too, because as soon as she forgets, she's back to her old, happy self.

Question: When the Von Trapps and Maria sit down for dinner, why do they start to cry?

Answer: Maria is (successfully) making them feel guilty about the pranks they've been pulling.

Matty Blast

Answer: Also, they were sad.

1st Aug 2004

The Brady Bunch (1969)

54-40 and Fight - S1-E15

Question: Would someone please explain to me why Marcia did not just simply remove her dangly bracelet that endangered the girls standing in the house of cards competition after Carol said "Oh Marcia, Marcia, your bracelet"? It would have made it less stressful on her not to mention her team, and she wouldn't have had to restrain it with her other hand.

Answer: The dangling bracelet was used for dramatic purposes - to keep the audience on edge.

Answer: There were several episodes throughout the run of the show where Marcia was infatuated with a guy she went to school with. This bracelet could have been a gift from her then-boyfriend; as such, she would not want to take it off, as a sign of loyalty. A stupid thing to do, of course, but it's not a mistake for a character simply to be dumb.

Matty Blast

Question: When Zam glances up at Anakin on top of her ship, why does her face go green and wrinkly like after she'd been poisoned?

Answer: Zam is a "changling." The human form she is assuming is actually a disguise, and the green ape-like form is her natural, "default" form, if you will. Since it takes a certain degree of concentration to maintain her disguised form of a humanoid, distractions like Anakin's cause parts of her body to revert briefly to its natural form.

Matty Blast

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